Istanbul Hosts 2021 Grand Prix F1

By. Justin Mays

Turkish Grand Prix 2021 took place on the 10th of October. This awaited race went as anticipated by the sports sector and tourism sector in Turkey. The race which was once scheduled for June 2021 was later postponed to October due to travel restrictions in a lot of countries. 

The race took place at Intercity Istanbul Park, in the city where Europe meets Asia, the same place it took place in November 2020. The location that hosted the same event from 2005 to 2011 has a capacity to host 200.000 spectators. However, only 100.000 onlookers were allowed in Istanbul Park due to COVID-19 restrictions in the country.

The chairperson for Turkey Hoteliers Association (TUROB), Muberra Eresin indicated the hotel sector expected $150 million in revenue. This was great news to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism which had not received a lot of tourists in 2020 since the rase took place without fans. 

Hotels in Istanbul enjoyed the pick it had missed for the past two years and were expecting 30,000 foreign guests In Istanbul. Eresin was more excited that Istanbul hosted F1 again this year. She had talks with Formula 1 boss, Stefano Domenicali and highlighted Turkey’s hope to host Grand Prix F1 in the coming years. 

Istanbul Park is one of Hermann Tilke’s advanced designs. The anti-clockwise 5.338 km circuit has 14 turns and the 8th turn has 4 apexes. F1 is one of the most-watched events which reaches more than 2 billion people. Valtteri Bottas earned his 1st formula one success of the Turkish Prix 2021. The 24-year-old champion said that it was one of the best races he has had so far. Some of the winners were Max Verstappen, Sergio Perez, Pierre Gasly, and Carlos Sainz.